Three’s Company (Warriors 123, Bulls 92)

There is drama afoot across the NBA, and the Chicago Bulls are among the many teams embroiled in controversies mostly of their own making. In Cleveland, you have an aging LeBron James playing what feels like 40 minutes a game in the regular season, publicly admonishing his organization for being complacent, demanding another playmaker, making moves to bring his buddy Carmelo Anthony into town (at the expense of poor Kevin Love), and otherwise nervously looking over his shoulder at the Western Conference landscape. In New York, you have Phil Jackson subtweeting Carmelo Anthony and trying to get him to waive his no-trade clause, Jeff Hornacek saying to the media that he was warned about the off-court drama before taking the Knicks job and it has “lived up to the billing”, and Charles Oakley getting into it with someone (potentially Knicks owner James Dolan) before being arrested and dragged out of Madison Square Garden. And of course one cannot forget the Chicago Bulls, whose drama seems cute in comparison. After Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler publicly went after their teammates for a lack of effort and passion, Rajon Rondo fired back with an Instagram post that talked about “his teammates” and how they’d deal with issues internally back when he was the youngling amongst elder statesmen Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen (conspicuously excluded from the Instagram post) in Boston. Coach Fred Hoiberg had a full-scale mutiny on hand; that situation has quietened somewhat with improved play, but the fact remains that the Bulls are a leaking and fast-sinking ship.

Those hoping to see some of that drama on the court were sorely disappointed, as the Bulls were short both Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler due to illness and injury respectively. Just like that, their chances of winning plummeted, and verily the Warriors pasted them in a wire-to-wire 123-92 victory that illustrated one of the maxims of the modern NBA: if you cannot shoot the three, it’s going to be really hard for you to win.

The Bulls shot 4-24 from behind the arc (16.7%); the Warriors were 15-28 (53.6%). The Bulls as a team shot 40.2%; the Warriors shot 55.8%. The Bulls were led in scoring by their scoring-averse center Robin Lopez, who doubled his career average in scoring by putting up 17 points; the Warriors got 28 points on 18 shots from Klay Thompson, and every player on the active roster played and scored. The Warriors were nearly even in rebounding despite still being without Zaza Pachulia and David West, turned the ball over only 13 times, shot 92.3% from the free throw line, and doubled the Bulls’ fast break point output. In all ways, this was a mismatch and a blowout.

Shining brightly in the national TV spotlight was JaVale McGee, who continues to improve his conditioning and his discipline. Jim Barnett and Bob Fitzgerald repeatedly mentioned McGee’s ability to “vertically space” the floor, adding the threat of scoring on any lob within what feels like a 15 foot radius of the basket to the already terrifying threat of scoring from anywhere past half court that Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant all provide. McGee’s screens on the pick and roll have greatly improved, as has his sense of timing in when to peel off and make himself available to flush one home. He also acquitted himself well on the defensive end of the floor, picking up a pair of blocks and otherwise harassing anyone who dared to venture into the paint. The two iconic “good McGee” sequences were his perfectly-executed pick and roll with Stephen Curry (which nearly broke the backboard with the force of the finish) and his block on Lopez that ended with him sprinting the floor and slamming home an alley-oop from Durant. The one “not-so-good McGee” sequence had me wincing, as he nearly jumped over Lopez while on defense and took both himself and Lopez out in a painful manner. In a statement that would have been absurd to type even a month ago, the Warriors really need JaVale, and him staying healthy and continuing to get in better shape, both mentally and physically, could add a critical piece to their rotation.

The entire Warriors’ roster was positive in +/-, and I don’t want to repeat the same truisms that tend to come to mind after every win. Stephen Curry was quiet but efficient, Klay Thompson shot and passed the ball well…these are normal occurrences that us spoiled Dubs fans can usually take for granted. The interesting (i.e. non-standard) developments in this game included Durant’s bounceback game after his woeful performance against Sacramento, Draymond Green’s three-point shot suddenly returning to him in a fashion reminiscent of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and the play of the bench in mop-up duty. Briante Weber, the newest Warrior, looked like yet another pesky defender the Dubs can unleash; his speed and agility are really something to behold. He also looks remarkably polished for a guy who just joined this team, and he appears to have taken over the headband look from Patrick McCaw (and convinced James Michael McAdoo to join him as well). Kevon Looney had 10 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes of play, Damian Jones saw the floor and canned a free-throw-line jumper, and no starter played more than 32 minutes. With a tough road trip looming, managing fatigue and fitness into the All-Star Break is going to be critical in ensuring the Warriors are fresh for the second half of the season. Casually effective blowouts like last night will certainly help in the long run.

The Bulls’ offseason consisted of them luring aging superstar Dwyane Wade back to his hometown, which was a PR coup in all ways. However, in the pace-and-space era of the NBA, Wade lacks two critical components: the pace (he is now 35, with the “Flash” moniker replaced by veteran guile), the space (he has shot 28.7% for his career from behind the three point line). Additionally, Wade has historically been a ball-stopping player. Playing alongside another ball-dominant player in LeBron back in Miami took tons of adjustment, and that same level of comfort has not yet come to pass with Jimmy Butler in Chicago. The Bulls also signed legendarily poor shooter Rajon Rondo to provide some playmaking ability, adding them to a mix of proven and unproven shooters up and down the roster. After an inexplicable hot start from 3 to begin the season, the Bulls have fallen back to earth and then some, currently ranking last in the NBA while shooting 31.5% from behind the arc. Their opponents were the Dubs, who rank second in the NBA and shoot 38.9% from behind the arc. This mismatch was borne out in practice, as the Bulls were outscored by 32 (!?) points from three. Put bluntly, the NBA has evolved, and if you can’t make triples, you’re going to have yourself a bad time. The Bulls are far behind the revolution, and as a result they are almost always outmanned and outgunned. The Warriors have (at least) a “three’s company” of skilled shooters, and that by itself gives them a huge advantage night in and night out.